


Fog

by SparklingDragonTears



Series: We all fall down [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Aftermath, Gen, Gratuitous use of italics, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Masochistic Tendancies, Medicinal Drug Use, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Panic Attacks, Post-Sector 7 Plate Drop (Compilation of FFVII), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, ShinRa Mafia, Turks (Compilation of FFVII), Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:59:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24085489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparklingDragonTears/pseuds/SparklingDragonTears
Summary: Post Plate drop. They’d all been confined in a house arrest.Or more likely, suicide watch.--Rude handles it with self-destruction, Reno is forcibly drugged out of his mind to forget.At least they have each other.Set in Red/Partners Mini-Universe.
Relationships: Reno & Rude (Compilation of FFVII), Reno/Rude (Compilation of FFVII)
Series: We all fall down [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1737655
Kudos: 50





	1. Fog

**Author's Note:**

> My turn to take a stab at the Plate Drop fic!  
> I struggled whether to put it in the Partners series, but I decided to make a new one, something darker full of post-PD fics.  
> Set in my Red mini-verse.
> 
> W: Unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Post Plate drop. They’d all been confined in a house arrest. 

Or more likely, suicide watch.

The only ShinRa employees allowed out were SOLDIERs, and even then, everyone was accompanied and monitored. Turks in particular had a forced lockdown. They were confined to the living quarters in the ShinRa Building, guards forcing welfare checks randomly every few hours, SOLDIERs lining the hallways. 

They couldn’t be sure whether the SOLDIERs were there for their protection or their mental stability.

Even, or perhaps _especially_ , Reno and Rude were required to stay in an unlocked temporary apartment until further notice. Although one room was assigned to each, no one tried to stop them as Reno followed Rude into his, closing them in with the minuscule privacy they were afforded.

They both spotted the black box immediately upon entering the room, hung high in a corner, recording their every word. At least they hadn’t been rigged with cameras yet.

After two nights forced stay in hospital, they were finally allowed to breathe.

Not that they could if they tried.

Rude wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t touch him. 

Wouldn’t leave him alone in a room.

Reno had nothing to say anyway, words turning to ash in his mouth before his tongue even tried to form them.

They’d both been forcefully doped for days with something that, although couldn’t keep away the horrific thoughts completely, dragged them from the edge before panic could overtake them. Reno was terrified of the silent stillness in his stoic partner, something unnatural and stony hovering under his skin that screamed _danger!_

They didn’t talk about it.

They didn’t sleep.

ShinRa had blocked news feeds into the building. The only thing they knew was near-constant sirens outside their graveyard of an apartment.

For days, they edged around one another in their newly quiet world, pretending to read, pretending to watch television. Doing nothing at all. 

Rude slid further into somewhere hellish in his mind that made him pace, stole his hunger, drove him to hide in a corner, typing furious text into his phone for hours that Reno was afraid to see. 

Reno himself was trapped in a purgatory of his own making. Because of the shit his body had gone through from such a young age, ShinRa meds never quite hit him like everyone else. It wasn’t until Reno broke two fingers punching through the wall that Rude finally touched him, gentle hands shaking and pale as he pulled Reno into the hallway, not needing to flag someone down. Of course they were posted outside their door. 

ShinRa doctors upped his dosage after that, to something that kept him in a constant floating state.

He was okay not having the ability to focus anymore.

On the fourth day, Reno glared at Rude until the Big Guy finished the _single fucking_ slice of toast he’d made him, never mind that it was already some evening hour. The man huffed petulantly through his nose, but slowly forced the food down. It wasn’t like Reno had any desire to eat either, but if they didn’t start trying to pretend life could go on, he was afraid that every check from the SOLDIERs might drag Rude away from him. 

If he was left alone…

The fog in his head didn’t let Reno consider alternatives, didn’t let him imagine a future of any type. All he knew was that Rude’s body went tense when he couldn’t see Reno, and that the man was seconds from self-flagellating at any given instant. 

Reno didn’t look at Rude’s face when his partner left the table to shower.

When the man slid the bathroom door shut quietly, Reno realized he’d left his phone on the table.

He was sure it hadn’t been a mistake.

Ignoring the tremble running through him, Reno waited until he heard the water crashing over the tiles to reach out and grab the device.

He knew immediately that something was wrong. Not that he couldn’t have cracked it anyway, but Rude had left it unlocked.

He ignored the apps and went straight to the newest message. Why the hell was Rude texting _Kira_ of all people? The little shit was the only one still around from his own training. He had also been savagely warped into a sick son of a bitch who was the spitting image of the bastard of a mentor who’d broken him. Reno thought resentfully that Mark had been microscopically better. At least his family didn’t come with money to back up his shit.

_They’ll give me 20 min. Might be able to bargain 30._

_Reno?_

_Don’t worry abt him._

_He’ll see the second you walk in and murder me himself. Doesn’t matter what they got him on._

_Gonna do it or not?_

_You deal with him, I’ll deal with you._

Reno felt the hurt trying to force itself through his mind. Rude had promised he was done with this shit. Of course, they both knew he probably wouldn’t ever be, but to fucking hide it from him?

Almost as soon as he’d thought it, his heart sank back under the fog and the fight left him. He realized exactly what Rude was doing. He’d left the phone in confession, knowing he couldn’t hide it from Reno. Asking _permission_.

Who the hell was he to deny Rude a damn thing, now of all times?

Rude slid from the bathroom, wrapped only in a towel. He hovered in the doorway, watching Reno with those eyes he hadn’t seen in days. He saw everything they couldn’t say swimming in the dark gaze. If he hadn’t already made up his mind, that look would have taken any choice away from him.

Reno looked over the scars curving around the man’s ribs, leftovers from Tseng’s touch. He’d never mentioned the careful, shallow lines inside Rude’s arms, but now, naked, pale, so fucking _shattered_ , the faint scars screamed at him, deafening in the bitter silence between them.

He swallowed and turned his head away, a reluctant agreement. 

He couldn’t meet Rude’s eyes when the thankful sigh hissed from his nose. The man left Reno standing in the living area with quiet footsteps to go change. 

Reno was still staring at the floor by the time he returned.

A heavy hand settled against his jaw with cold fingers. Rude applied just a slight pressure to force Reno’s eyes to him.

“Fucking, _Kira?_ ” Reno ignored that his unused voice cracked pathetically. “Why they lettin’ you out anyway?”

“You know why.” Rude’s deep voice was equally destroyed.

Reno also ignored that there might have been tears stinging his eyes. He absolutely did know. Reno’s memories of recent events dropped away from him whenever he tried to reach them because of the casual abyss of cotton melting through his mind. Rude didn’t have the same fortune. Reno had nothing better to do than watch the Big Guy for signs of destruction, fending it off where he could, undoubtedly driving him further toward madness. 

After all these years, not a damn person in this place had the balls to deny Rude, and of course the SOLDIERs were willing to bend protocol for him. 

Kira, the bastard, had probably been waiting for the day to get his pound of flesh from anyone associated with Reno.

They were all damned lucky Reno was drugged stupid.

“I’ll kill ‘im.” Reno muttered, a weak defense even to his own ears. 

It almost earned him a twitch of a smile. Rude leaned his forehead against Reno’s and stepped back without a word. Reno could do nothing but watch the man slide his sunglasses and shoes on and leave out the door quietly.

Rude hadn’t looked back.


	2. Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meds wear off and Reno drops and _where the hell is Rude?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> W: Panic attack and forced sedation.

Reno’s eyes burned as he stared at the ceiling.

_30 minutes, my ass._

It had to have been hours. If he weren’t sure the SOLDIER outside his door was armed with sedatives to take him down, he would have gone looking for his partner. The drugs were wearing off, as they tended to do before they turned the lights dim in the halls for the night. Anger started boiling through him, untethered as the fog cleared. 

He’d kill Kira. He’d strangle him. He’d beat him bloody and drop his body off the Plate-

Reno’s heart nearly stopped.

_The Plate._

_Sector 7._

He gasped in a shaking breath, feeling his body come alive with electric panic. He bolted upright and ran to the window, pressing his hands against the glass. Of course his window was on the other side. This room overlooked Sector 4, below which was his old life, only a few miles from…

Reno’s knees hit the floor. He grasped at his shirt, suddenly too tight against his skin. He couldn’t breathe. His vision began to tunnel to the smoke still hovering on the distant horizon. He didn’t feel them, but heard himself snuffing against tears forcing out over his cheeks, felt himself gasping desperately.

_Can’t breathe._

_Smoke’s so thick, can’t see._

_Tearing, ripping, shrieking metal._

_Explosions, sirens._

_Screams. Cries._

_Terror._

_Everywhere._

_Chopper blades mute under the crash._

_Broken glasses._

_Rude._

_That sword poised. Ready to fall, ready to die._

_Rude…_

_Where the hell are you…?_

Reno blinked against the bright light suddenly flooding through him. His stomach dropped as his mind was wiped clear, a quiet mist swirling around his head, dragging him away from wherever he had been.

Bright eyes slid around, glowing with Mako. 

Reno found himself pressed against a familiar wall of chest. He breathed in deep, _Rude_ lingering all around him. 

Why was Rude shaking?

His hands moved in slow motion, grabbing Rude’s arms as they held him tight.

_I’m fine_

His tongue wasn’t cooperating.

“Red,” Rude was saying into his hair.

“You got him?” Some SOLDIER.

“Yes.” Rude bit out somewhere above where the world was starting to tilt. 

It was only after some countless quiet moments that the room faded back to him. He was tired, bodily exhausted in a way that said he’d had a panic attack, that he’d been yanked back against his will via whatever now sedated him. He blinked heavily, tugging himself from the suffocating grip.

Rude was searching his face, something guilty staring him down.

Reno noticed his partner moved delicately, like his every breath caused him pain. He scowled at the man, reaching up to touch his face, hesitating when Rude flinched.

He looked over him, noticing Rude’s sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows, revealing dark purple rings at his wrists. Some semblance of a memory tried to worm through Reno.

“Kira.” He snarled, flashes of Rude’s phone clawing forth.

“Hey, not now.” Something in Rude’s soft voice brought Reno back down to the moment. This was _his_ Rude, not whatever ghost of a man he’d been living with this week. 

He could only admit to himself that he was afraid to trust it, afraid that as soon as he leaned onto the man, he would vanish again and leave him in a free-fall.

“Come back to me, Red.” Rude’s glasses were gone. Reno couldn’t look into those eyes. 

Gentle fingers ran through Reno’s wild, sweaty hair, tugging in a way that brought old, lost memories floating just out of reach. 

He may have choked on a few tears.

“Ya’ son of a bitch.” Reno choked out, without any real malice. Rude’s lips did turn up this time, an ease drifting over his face that only partially had to do with the concoction flowing in his blood.

“I’m here.” He answered lowly. 

Rude stood, lifting Reno easily, despite the wince that crossed his face, and the fact that he’d barely eaten in days. Reno buried his wet face in Rude’s neck, ignoring the dark lines he could see staining through the back of the man’s long-sleeved shirt.

Rude carried him into his bed, climbing in beside him and pulling him close. Reno kept his hands away from Rude’s back, not wanting to irritate whatever damage lie there. He made a note to himself to make sure Rude was cleaned up properly once his head stopped spinning. He sure as hell didn’t trust _Kira_ had taken care of him. 

Reno watched his partner reach out and flip off the light beside the bed. He tossed his phone onto the nightstand and bundled Reno into his chest, not bothering with their clothes.

They were quiet a few minutes, both drifting into a contented cloud, when Rude ran his thumb over Reno’s cheek.

“They’re gonna make us talk to people tomorrow, therapists and shit.” His voice was a whisper, but Reno could tell by the gentle touch that he was worried about Reno’s reaction. He sighed, nuzzling into the large palm.

“Guess they can’t keep us locked here forever.” He suspected he would have stronger feelings, hell, _any_ feelings at all, if they hadn’t liquified his brain for the time being.

Rude didn’t reply, but Reno felt his partner’s chest sag a little in relief.

“ _Don’t leave me again._ ” Reno’s voice was small, whispered and shaking. He couldn’t begin to care.

“No,” Rude agreed, his chin hooking over Reno’s shoulder. “I got you, Kid. Not going anywhere.”

Reno thought his head might cave in from the constant push-pull of emotions threatening to break free from their chemical prison.

“We’re talkin’ about it in the morning, yo.” Reno tried for nonchalance, but was pretty sure he fell about three miles flat. Rude flinched just enough for Reno to notice, although he tried to hide it.

Rude opened his mouth to reply, only to close it again. Reno scowled, but waited him out as he struggled with his thoughts.

“Thank you, Reno.” He finally breathed against Reno’s ear.

He forced down tears and nodded. Rude held him a little tighter and they both allowed themselves to fade away into their newfound dreamless slumber.

**Author's Note:**

> Till next time,  
> -J X


End file.
